Fs9 Problem install from Backup

[Guest melf12]

I have come to grief with my Fs9 installation.Due to problems I decided to re-install from a backup using Power Quest Drive Image 7. This also failed.It maybe because I tried to install the Backup over the top of the existing fs9 installation?Should I have removed all traces of the existing installation then installed from the Backup? And NOT used the original Flight Simulator 2004 discs!Ken

[Luc Brusselmans 1]

I have come to grief with my Fs9 installation.Due to problems I decided to re-install from a backup using Power Quest Drive Image 7. This also failed.It maybe because I tried to install the Backup over the top of the existing fs9 installation?Should I have removed all traces of the existing installation then installed from the Backup? And NOT used the original Flight Simulator 2004 discs!Ken

Ken,You give us only little information to work with here.What was wrong with the original installation of Fs9?Where was it installed?What kind of backup are you talking abouit?Anyway, I will try to shed some light on the issue.I assume you're original install was on a different partition than your Operating system.Restoring an imagefile of a partition, without restoring the OS, can lead to problems.The reason for this is that, while you install software on the FS9-partition, the registry ofthe OS resides on the C-partition and most installprocedures write data into the registry. If you the restore the Fs9-partition to a previous state,the registry which sits on a different partition will still contains data, keys from after the restorationpoint andthat can cause problems.If you want to use programs like "Drive Image" or "Acronis True Image" (which I use)the best way forward is creating multiple images taken at different moments of installation.I do the following for my fs9 pc:- install OS, including drivers for motherboard, chipset, raid, ethernet, grapics, sound (the complete setup to start working)- create an image file of that partition (usual c:\) (a full image file)- install Fs9, update to 9.1, mesh scenery (I install on different partition (D:\)- create an image file of both C:\ and D:\ (again a full image file)- install all extra scenery (airports, regions...)- create (again) an image file of both C:\ and D:\ (and again a full image file)When something goes wrong I have three imagefiles to choose from.I can roll back to only OS, OS + basic FS9 or OS + basic FS9 + addon's.Since I always make a copy of both OS and Fs9, I can be sure that I also have acomplete copy of my registry.To answer one of your questions..When you restore a complete partition (or files inside that partition) the complete partitionwill be erased and overwritten by the restoration. In fact the first step of the procedureis to (quick)format the partition you want to be restored.If you want more answers (which I found myself by trial and error)drop me a line at glaudrung at mobistar.be.Luc BrusselmansBelgium

[Guest melf12]

Ken,You give us only little information to work with here.What was wrong with the original installation of Fs9?Where was it installed?What kind of backup are you talking abouit?Anyway, I will try to shed some light on the issue.I assume you're original install was on a different partition than your Operating system.Restoring an imagefile of a partition, without restoring the OS, can lead to problems.The reason for this is that, while you install software on the FS9-partition, the registry ofthe OS resides on the C-partition and most installprocedures write data into the registry. If you the restore the Fs9-partition to a previous state,the registry which sits on a different partition will still contains data, keys from after the restorationpoint andthat can cause problems.If you want to use programs like "Drive Image" or "Acronis True Image" (which I use)the best way forward is creating multiple images taken at different moments of installation.I do the following for my fs9 pc:- install OS, including drivers for motherboard, chipset, raid, ethernet, grapics, sound (the complete setup to start working)- create an image file of that partition (usual c:\) (a full image file)- install Fs9, update to 9.1, mesh scenery (I install on different partition (D:\)- create an image file of both C:\ and D:\ (again a full image file)- install all extra scenery (airports, regions...)- create (again) an image file of both C:\ and D:\ (and again a full image file)When something goes wrong I have three imagefiles to choose from.I can roll back to only OS, OS + basic FS9 or OS + basic FS9 + addon's.Since I always make a copy of both OS and Fs9, I can be sure that I also have acomplete copy of my registry.To answer one of your questions..When you restore a complete partition (or files inside that partition) the complete partitionwill be erased and overwritten by the restoration. In fact the first step of the procedureis to (quick)format the partition you want to be restored.If you want more answers (which I found myself by trial and error)drop me a line at glaudrung at mobistar.be.Luc BrusselmansBelgium

[Guest melf12]

Hello Luc, many thanks for your reply, I'm still digesting it. I cannot remember having such a comprehensive reply since I joined Avsim about 6 years ago!I'll send you an email later today, after I've had another look at my fs9 installation.Best regards,Ken

[StoneC0ld 5]

I have come to grief with my Fs9 installation.Due to problems I decided to re-install from a backup using Power Quest Drive Image 7. This also failed.It maybe because I tried to install the Backup over the top of the existing fs9 installation?Should I have removed all traces of the existing installation then installed from the Backup? And NOT used the original Flight Simulator 2004 discs!Ken

When I reinstall Windows, I still use the original disks to provide the registry entries and stuff, but almost everything that gets kept comes from backups. This doesn't include actual re-installing the operating system, but make sure the operating system and all your drivers are installed properly first...

* Rename or move existing FS9 directory elsewhere.* Install FS9 from original disks.* Install 9.1 update* Delete the FS9 directory just installed.* Copy existing FS9 directory back to its proper name and location, keeping the backup (it may be needed again later)* Install any payware aircraft, particularly ones that have extensive license checking.* Re-copy any individual aircraft modifications from backup over top of newly-installed versions of said files (payware product reinstalls probably will overwrite any panel.cfg modifications or sound.cfg or aircraft.cfg, etc., so restore backed-up versions (again)).* Re-configure FS9 or restore FS9.cfg from other backup.* Once I'm satisfied I don't need to restore any more files from previous FS9 install, delete the backup copy (which I usually would give at least a month, since I may not always remember every modified panel that needs to be restored at the time I do all this..).

Works every time for me, just can take time (depending on how big your FS9 directory is... :()..As an added note, I always install my FS9 to "E:\Flight Simulator 9", so it's never on the same partition as the operating system. So, I can format the OS partition as I should when reinstalling Windows, and still keep everything else on all my other partitions... :)